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Tornado
Zeke (1939) Aunt Em (1939) Dorothy Gale (1939) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) Dorothy Gale (1939) A Tornado (sometimes called a twister, whirlwind, or cyclone) is a violent and deadly rotating column of powerful air that is in contact with both the clouds of the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth, usually brought on by thunderstorms. It is a very large, massive and dangerously strong funnel that reaches from the sky and hundreds of miles down in length until it touches the ground. It moves very, very fast in an uncoordinated circular motion across the land. They are rather common in the main character's homeland known as Kansas. Because wind is invisible, it is hard to see one unless it forms a condensation funnel made up of water droplets, dust, dirt and debris. They are the most violent and fatal of all atmospheric storms. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) In L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in circa 1899-1900, one was responsible for transporting a little orphan girl named Dorothy Gale, and her pet dog, Toto, to the undiscovered magical Land of Oz while aloft in their farmhouse. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) When the tornado deposited the house it fell on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. She had ruled the eastern quadrant of Oz known as the Munchkin Country. But when the house killed her, the native Ozians of the east called the Munchkins where set free from her bondage. And as a thank you, they and their close friend the Good Witch of the North, gave Dorothy the charmed Silver Shoes that the Witch had been wearing when the sun dried her up and turned her to dust. Only one appears in the story. It is never explained why it chose to pick up the farmhouse and carry it over the Rainbow and all the way into the other dimension known as Oz--it just happens. When Dorothy and Toto were picked up in their house by the tornado without demolition after some fright and Toto fell out of the open trap door. But the strong pressure of the air kept him from falling and he was rescued by Dorothy who caught him by the ear and pulled him back into the room. After that she went to sleep on her bed with him at her side. *Since Toto was levitating in mid air, he was floating by the same type of power that was holding up the farmhouse. Both were subject to the same forces of gravitation that gave them identical motions. Dorothy most likely floated around inside the farmhouse as if she was an astronaut in outer space floating with no gravity, becoming weightless. Although Baum does not specifically say that this happened to her, realistically speaking, it is very possible it did occur when the tornado transports her, Toto, and the house to Oz if such a peculiar thing were to happen. 1939 Film Dorothy Gale (1939) It is most notably remembered from being in the classic film of 1939 by MGM. Failing to get home in time after running away, Dorothy was left behind and unable to get safely inside the storm cellar with her relatives when the tornado hit. She rushed into her house to take cover but the strong winds caused her bedroom window to blow off its hinges and the frame hit her on the head, causing her to collapse onto her bed with Toto. In her dream, the house was then picked up by the tornado without demolition and was carried over the Rainbow to the magical Land of Oz. During the trip, she saw various animals and people also caught in the tornado go flying past her window including Miss Gulch, who made a hideous transformation into the Wicked Witch. The person who made the tornado in the 1939 film was a man named Arnold “Buddy” Gillespie. *From 1936 to 1962 Gillespie served as the head of special effects at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on more than 180 feature films. The "tornado" was a thirty-five foot long muslin stocking, photographed with miniatures of a Kansas farm and fields. Gillespie rigged up a gantry crane, rotated by a motor, that traveled the length of the soundstage. The base of the tornado was fastened to a car below the stage, where the crew moved it along a track. The farmhouse, fence, barn, and prairie all were done in miniature, and clouds were painted on glass. Wind machines and dust added the final touch. They filmed the tornado sweeping across the prairie from several angles, at distances, coming close to the camera and going away from it. This scene was narrated by Debra Winger in the 1995 television stage performance which was a benefit for the Children's Defense Fund. She also played the Wicked Witch in it. Return to Oz 1985 Return to Oz (1985) In Walt Disney's 1985 cult classic film Return to Oz, no tornado appears. But it is indeed referred to several times and even shows the old farmhouse it carried away and dropped in an apocalyptic Munchkin Country. The Wiz 1974-1978 In the musical version the tornado was a group of dancers dressed in black fabric waving around Dorothy's house. In the movie version, it appears as a blizzard on a street in New York City, and Dorothy gets caught in it when she runs after Toto who had escaped out an open door. Lost in Oz The same tornado that carried Dorothy to Oz has been bottled by Loreleidere and can be used as a weapon. Ultimately, Alexandra Wilder got ahold of it and used it on the witch, defeating her. Inkheart In the 2008 film Inkheart, the tornado from The Wizard of Oz, is brought out of the book when the chapter The Cyclone is read aloud. Syfy Tinman In Syfy's 2009 Tinman mini-series, D.G. is taken to Oz in a giant tornado. Oz the Great and Powerful In Disney's 2014 prequel to the MGM film, Oscar Diggs, a carnival magician, escapes from an angry strongman in his balloon which then got caught up in a tornado. At its eye, he experiences a strange magical effect where gravity ends and everything is suspended in mid air, and the balloon is then carried to Oz. Once Upon A Time 2014 In ABC's Once Upon A Time, Dorothy is brought to Oz in a tornado and she is then found by Glinda and Zelena aka the Wicked Witch of the West. es:Tornado fr:Cyclone